Grain-drier.



PATEN TED JULY 21,

v P. PROVOST.

2 SHEET8SHEET 1.

- I attomwl 7.3mm M V Y W @Lff 23s. 1 d 4/; K

No. 893,812. PATENTED JULY 21 1908.

P. PROVOST. GRAIN DRIER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 18. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

all whom it may concern:

- ED" S T PATENT OFFICE.

PETER PROVOST, 0F MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOIt TO PROVOSTMANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN. I 1

cum-Damn.

Be it known that I, PETER- Pnovos'r, of Menominee, Michi an, have.invented a Grain-Drier, of whic the following is a speci-- fication.

This invention relates to a ain-drier of the t pe' wherein the grain toe dried passes t rough a series of steam-heated pipes.

The obiplct of my present invention is to improve t regulating the flowof grain throughthe ap paratus as a whole; ourth, by providing means forpreventing the grain" from lodgin onthe upper surface of the heating-tanwhereby t ey'become overheated and baked;

fifth, by'providing a movable lower portion and means for attaching itto the heatingtank; and sixth, by providing novel means for choking thetubes through which the grain passes, which present superioradvant es tothe meansheretoforeemployed.

apparatus in a lane at ri ht angles to that 0 y invention comprises theprocessofconstructing my invention, and such special -featuresofconstruction aslw'ill be hereinafter s ecifically described and pointedout in the 0 aims.

My invention may jbet be understood 35 from. a. consideration of thefollowing description, reference being had. to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my drier as mountedfor use, the discharge cone at'the lower end thereof being shown insection. Fig. 2 1s a longitudinalsection through the I i 1.. In t 'sfigure t e regulator has a sl ght y difierent form from that'of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus, the

- funnel-plate beinghalfbroken' away, Fig. 4

is a side elevation of a drier-tank in process of immersion according tom invention, Fig. 5 is a perspective viewo he funnelplate, 6 is a frontelevation of one of the OlQ'LIIIPIIiS-BM'S, Fig. 7 is a longitudinalsection on an e arged scale throughone of the tubes showi a choke-ringin position therein, Fig. 8 IS a perspectiveview of a choke .rin Fig. 9is a section on an enlarged sc e Specification o1 Letteii Patent. NApplication filed. August 18 1905. I lierial'No. 274,684;

s type of drier, first by an easier, simpler and better construction ofthe heatcharge cone thereto.

receive a pass through lating cone showing one way of ermanentlysecuring the latter.

Fig. 10 is a ongitudlnal I Patented J'u1y21, recs. I

through the. stirrup supporting the regusection on an enlar edscale onone end of a drier-tube to show t e method of sealing the joint-betweenit and the tank-head.

these drawings each reference character refers always to the 'samepart.

M improved heater. consists of two principa parts, to wit, aheating-tank A and a discharge-cone B, whichare fitted together in themanner shown in the drawing. The heatin -tank in my present invention isnot forme in the manner formerl by bendin a sheet into a 'cylin er, butconsists of a s eet of metal drawn through dies into cup-shaped form.andfdesignated 11, so that it has no seams or rivets which leak orinterfere with the connection of the dissheet 11 has a continuous andintegral As so formed, the

employed bottom-portion 12 and its top-portion 13 is I I formed in asimilar manner by pressing a sheet into, a, shallower cup shaped formforming flanges. 14 thereon,

which it closely inside the cylindrical portion of the body'-, piece 11,and when fitted 'thereinto the up or edge of the latter is turnedinwardly to 01m an overlap 1 5,: which grips the edges of the top-piece'13 securely,

and prevents it from coming out. Before putting to respectively,

1n the sides of the cylindrical body portion 11 v near the top andbottom thereof, and lined with tubular rivets 18 and 19 to re ceiveinduct and educt pipes 20 and 21 for the-heating'fiuid, which 1sgenerally-but not necessarily steam.

'- I do not depend onthe tightness of the rcvention '85 ether, e or andspoillt for flour-making purposes. To I this end I put thehe'atin'g-tank through a special process to tighten the'joints as nowbeexplained. I In Fig.- 4 is shown a melting-pot 22 .sup-

ported on walls 23 inclosing a furnace 24 whereby a bath of metal 25,which may be either solder or preferably brass, tin or some other metalthat will alloy directly with the metal of the tank, is kept in ameltedcondition. Unless the metal will alloy directly with that of the tank,it will be necessary to coat the tank first with an intermediarycomposition whereby the melted metal is.

caused to adhere thereto. Into this metal bath the tank A is immersedfirst at one end and then at the other until the melted metal runsthrough'one of the orifices 18, 19 and covers the end of the tank to ash ht depth, say one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch. It is clear thatbyso doin the metal will become heated up to the a oying tem erature andthat the joints and places for eakage in the tubes and members of thetank will be hermetically sealed, and further the layer of metal 52 onthe bottom of the tank, which is then on removing the latter from thebath left to harden in a horizontal position, will add to the strengthof tlie tank and particularly to the tightness of the joints.

I further refer to secure the joints between the tu e;ends andthe-tank-heads by a 1pieculiar-method of expanding the former,-

ch is clearly illustrated in Fig. 10. The

-expanded portion 17 .is turned over to form an annular flangesubstantially parallel w1th the head 12 or 13, but leaving a smallcrevice or space between. the two so as to admit a ring 53 of the fusedmetal surrounding the tube on the outside, and additionally preventingany leakage of steam therewell known principles.

through. It will be understood that the annular crevice is sufiicientlysmall to. hold a metal-ring 53 \in lace by capillari-ty after thetank-head has een removed from the bath 25, and until the ring 53 hashad time to harden.

When, as is at present customary, the tank 1s made of iron, and thetubes of copper,

great difficulty has been found in practice 1n procurmg and maintaininan absolute tightness of the joints, especia y under high pressure ofsteam.. The reasonfo'r this lies 1n the electrolysis. and corrosion atthejoints of the iron, which is brought about b the act on of water ofcondensation co lectlng upon them, so that even when the joints areabsolutely tight at the beginning,

they. soon cease to be so. By applying the entire surface, as heretoforedescribed, these joints are r0.- tected completely from such; 'electroytic corrosion, in fact,"- from corrosion of any kind; and where, as isusual, the soldering alloy is electropositive to iron, it will alsoprotect the entire tank against corrosion on Th tank-so formed isprovided at its upper end withears 26 whereby it is secured to"surround' when the an overhead object, more articularly to thefloor-beams 27 (Fig. 1) 0 the floor above, through which projects a duct28, through which the grain flows from a receiving-hm above, and may beregulated by any suitable means such as a slide 29.

The discharge cone B is preferably of conical sheet-metalhaving a roll30 around its upper margin, which surrounds and closely incloses' thelower end of the tank as shown, and downwardly rojecting clamping-ears31 are secured to t e tank and have thumb-screws 32 projectingtherethrough, which engage under the roll 30. While I do not limitmyself necessarily to any number of clamping-ears, it is preferable inmost situations to use but two as shown in Fig. 1, arranged at op ositesides of the tank, and to enable this to Ee done and still hold thedischarge-cone B perfectly central, the latterds so constructed thatwhen the roll 30 is in position to be clamped b the screws 32, the mnerface of the conica portion abuts closely against'th'e end of the tank,thus absolutely preventing any wabbling of the dischargestruction issimpler than that previously used, and presents the advantage ofenabling the ready removal of the discharge-cone from any of a series ofdriers mounted closely side by side, in which position three or moreclam ing-ears could not be conveniently mani u ated. v I

The discharge-cone B is truncated at the lower end to form adischarge-orifice 33, be low which is mounted a stirrup 34 secured tothe sides of the cone and having in its center an apertured boss 35supporting a screwstem 36, which projects u ward axially with-' inthedischarge-cone and lias mounted on its upper end a regulating-cone 37.Above and ary regulating-ring 38 as shown in Fig. 2, and 38 as shown mFig. 1. This regulatmgiring ma have either of the two mountings s own inigs. 1 and 2,-respectively, or it may be .omitted altogether accordingto the size of the apparatus. The form of Fig.2, in which the'regulating ring'is in'the form of a reversed cone sup "orted by;brackets .39 from the sidesof the dischargewone, is found best Fig. 1,which is in the form of a doublepitched rin supported on posts 39 fromthe margin-of t e'cone 37, is found best adapted est sizes no regulatinring is found necessa and it is omitted. justed in position by means ofa pan of locknuts 40, which engage the threads of the stem on o positesides of the boss 35,,and

, height ofthe cone 37 has been properly adjusted it is fixed by meansof a set-screw 41 binding the screw-stem from the he screw-stem'36 is aI the cone-37 is mounted a 'secondadapted to the larger slzes; the form38 in f to the intermediate sizes while on the small adjusted to properposition and then fixed permanently. t may he found preferable to removethe lock-nuts altogether and to replace the set-screw 41 by a s lit -pin41, as shown by the enlarged view, ig. 9. To regulate the discharge fromthe cone B, employ a conical lug 42 loosely mounted on the stem 36 ansup orted by a handnut 43 engaging the threa s thereof and havinghandles 44 for turning the same. It is clearthat by rotating the nut 43the plug 42 willbe raised and lowered and permit the grain to flow outat a greater or less rate, or will cut it off altogether. Y 1

It will be seen that when the grain is discharged into the upper end ofthe tank 11,

it is received within thebasin 45 of the toppiece 13. As the openingswithin the tubes 16 do not coyer the entire bottom of this ba sin,placesareleft where grain might accu-- ,mulate and become overheated orbaked.

To avoid this I introduce'a novelfunnelplate 46, illustrated inperspective in Fi 5, and shown in sectionand artial plan in igsp 2 and 3res ectively. 'l his plate consists of a piece -0 sheet-metal havingholes 47 punched therein, corres onding to the openings of the tubes 16an having the remaining ortion drawn up into ridges 48 between the oles,so as to leave only sloping surfaces leading fromthe ridges tothe'holes,, down which the grain slides and is carried through the holes47. Whatever grains might remain for a short period on the ridges themselves are held out of contact with thesteamheated surface and thus arepreventedfrom 1 being overheated.

A special feature of my im roved 1 drier is the novel method of chokingt e tubes where-. by grain is caused to flow more slowly. through them.Heretofore this has been accomplished by working the metal of the ltubes into a neck at regular intervals, and this had the disadvantagesthat it was difiicult and rather expensive 'to perform, weakened thetubes, and made them less durable because the necks 'so formedwouldbecome worn out rapidlyowing-to the friction of the grainthereagainst, and'then the tube had to'be replaced. Moreover, thesenecks. had

a permanent spacing and could not be moved v or increased in number asrequired by differ- 'ent circumstances. In my 1m roved form no necks"are-formed in the tu es, nor are tank havin .tubes fixed at their endsin the res they altered in any way, but I insert within them a number ofchoke-rings 49 made of spring-metal, one of which is shown inperspective in Fig. 8.. Each choke-ring has preferably a flatcylindrical outer surface 50 resting against the inner side of the tube,and a curved or tortuous inner surface 51 which projects within the tubeto the requisite extent It is obvious that'these and so chokes it.choke-rings may be arranged in any number and spacing desired, 'may beof any size require be replaced without injury to the tube itself.

It will be readily understood that various modifications of my inventionmight be de vised by those skilled in the art, and I'therefore do notlimit myself to the precise conthe principles involved therein broadlyas set forth in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Pate t is:- v

- 1. n a grain drier, the combination of a tank having seamless andcontinuous bottom and sides,a closed top and a plurality oftubesarranged for the passage of grain therethrough, means for admitting aheatin fluid to the interior of said tank, and a disc argecone havingregulatin devices attached to the bottom of said ta 2. In'a grain-drier, the combination of a seamless and continuous bottom and si es, aclosed top, and a plurality of'tubes arranged for the passage of graintherethrough, means for admitting a heating cone having regulatingdevice therein. In a grain-drier, the combination of a tank havinseamless and continuous bot tom and side end thereof, a plurality oftubes arranged for the passage of grain therethrough connecting the topand bottom and opening on the'exterior of said tank, a layer offusiblemetal, coverin the joints between said tubes, cover andjta andmeans'foradmitting a heating fluid to the interior of saidtank;

'4. A drier-tank comprising an integral seamless and continuous b0Ipiece comprisinga cylindrical portion an ahead, it cup shaped integralhead fitting in the openend. thereof, said body-portion having 1ts edgesbent over and inc said head-piece, a plurality of longitudinalectiveheads of said tank, and a'la er of sible, metal alloying with themeta of said tank cover-- ing the joints on one of the heads thereof.

5. In a grain-drier, a, discharge-cone having an ofinning at its lowerend, an upright cone wit said cone, means for raising and loweringsaidupright said s and a cover. closing the open and when worn out byfriction can struction as shown, but reserve the right to -fluid to theinterior. of said tank, and-a dis charge-cone having a cylindrlcal upperend fitting around the base of said ta in combination with osing theedges of I below sai cone, and a regulating-ring above and surroundingsaid upright cone.

6. In a grain drier, in combination with a discharge-element comprisingan inverted 5 cone having an opening at its lower end, a

'su port below sa1d open lower end, an uprig t screw-stem mounted onsaid support, an upright regulating-cone mounted on said screw-steminteriorly of said discharge-cone,

and means engaging the thread of said screw- I stem for verticallyadjusting the same- 7. In a grain drier, in combination with adischarge-element comprising an inverted cone having an opening at itslower end, a support below said open lower end, an upright screw-stemmounted on said support, an upright regulating-cone-mounted on saidscrew-stem interiorly of-said discharge-cone, means engaging the threadof said screwlatter, and a hand-nut engaging the thread of saidscrew-stem and forming a su port for said plug whereby the height of theatter is adjusted.

9. In a grain-drier, in' combination with a discharge-element comprisingan inverted cone having an opening at its lower end, 'a "upport belowsald open lower end; an upupright screw-stem mounted'on said support,

an upright regulating-conemounted on said screw-stem interiorly of saiddischarge-cone,

means engaging the thread of said screwstem for vertically adjusting thesame, and

a regulating-ring above and surrounding said regulating-cone. g

10; In a grain-drier, a discharge-element comprisin an inverted conehaving an opening in its owerend, in combination with a A stirrup deending from the sides of said cone below sai opening. and having avertical 'aperture concentric therewith, a vertical screwstem mountediii-said aperture and vertically adjustable therein, means forvertically adjusting said stem,'means for fixing saidstem in positionwith respect to said stirrup, and a regulating-element mol'nted or g aidstem teriorly of said cone. I

' 11. In a grain-drier, a discharge-element .comprisin an inverted conehaving an opening in its ower end, in combination with a stirrupdipending from the sides of said cone opening and having a verticalaperture concentric therewith, a vertical screw{ stem mounted in saidaperture'and vertically adjustable therein, means for vertically ad-'justing said stem, means for fixing said stem in posrtion with respectto said stirrup, a regulating-element mounted on said stem interiorly ofsaid cone, and a secondary regulating element above and surroundingsaidfirstnamedregulating element.

12. In a-grain-drier, a discharge-element comprisin an inverted conehaving an opening in its ower end, in combination with a stirrup deendingfrom the sides of said cone below sai openingland having avertical aperture concentric t erewith, a vertical screwstem mounted insaid aperture and vertically adjustable therein, means for verticallyadso justing said stem, means for fixing said stem in position withrespect to said stirrup, aregulat ng-elementmounted on said steminteriorly of said cone-,and a discharge-regulating-element adapted topartially or wholly 5 close the aperture in said cone, said lastnamedelement being adjustably mounted on said stern;

13. A ain-drier comprising a heatingtank having a plurality of verticaltubes adapted for the passage of grain therethrough, a discharge-elementcomprising an inverted cone having a margin telescoping over the lowerend of said tank, a plurality of bracket-shaped ears secured .to saidtank above said margin and overlapping the latter,

and a pluralit of devices carried by said ears adapted. to c amp.against said margin and holdit in place.-

- 14. A grain-drier comprising a\ substantially cylindrical heating-tankhaving a plurality of longitudinal tubes adapted for the passage ofgrain therethrough, a dischargeelement comprising an inverted conesecured over the'lower end of said tank and having a discharge-orificeat the lower end, and a vertically adjustable regulating-element withinsaid cone adapted to cause the grain passing through said tubes to beevenly distributed among said tubes.

15. A grain-drier comprising a substantially cylindrical heating-tankhaving a plurality of longitudinal tubes adapted for the passage ofgrain therethrough, a dischargeelement comprising an inverted conesecured over the lower end of said tank and having a discharge orificeat the lower end, a vertica ly adjustable regulating-element within saidcone adapted to cause the rain passing through said tubes to be even ydistributed among said tubes, .and a secondary annularregulating-element above and surrounding sa d first-named element.

16. A grain-drier comprising a substantially cylindrical heating-tankhaving a plu-, ralityof longitudinal tubes adapted for the passage ofgrain therethrough, a dischargeelement comprising an inverted conesecured over the lower end of said tank and having a discharge-orificeat the lower end, a vertica ly saasm adjustable regulating-elementwithin said cone adapted to cause the grain passing through said tubes.to be evenly distributed among said tubes, a secondary annularregulating-element above and surrounding said first-named element, andavertically adjustable plug adapted to partially or wholly close theorifice in said discharge-cone.

17. A ain-drier comprising a substantially cyl ndrlc'al heating-tankhaving a plurahty .of vertical tubes, a dischar e-element comprising aninverted cone inc osing the lower end of said tank and having adischarge-orifice at its lower end, avertically adjustable uprightregulating-cone mounted within said discharge-cone, and a conical plugadapted to regulate the discharge through said orifice.

18. A grain-drier comprising a substantially cylindrical heating-tankhaving a pluralit of vertical-tubes therein, a dischag gereguting-element comprising an inverted cone-inclosin the lower end of saidtank and having a disc argeorifice at its lower end, an uprightscrew-stem mounted concentrically and lpassing through said orifice, anupright regu ating-cone mounted on the u per end of sald screw-stem, asecondary reg ating-ring above'and surrounding said regulating-cone,means for adjusting the height of said screwstem, a conical plug mountedon saidgscrewthrough, and a plurality of movable choke.

rings mounted in said tubes.

'22. In. a ain-drier, the combination of a heating-tan .having aplurality of tubes adapted for the passage of grain therethrough, and alurahty of spring-rings choking the tubullir passages and held 1n placeby spring-pressure the'reagainst.

23.' In a ram-drier, in combination with a heating-ta having a pluralityof tubes adapted for the passage of grain therethrough and fixed atthelr u per ends in the head of said tank, a funnel-p ate fitting oversaid tank-head com rising a sheet having 1 and having its surface formedinto ridges with sides sloping downwardly toward said openings, wherebygrain' alighting on the holes registering wit the tubular openingssurface of said plate is caused to slide into one of said openings.

assage of 24. A ain-drier comprising 'a heatingtank havlng a pluralityofvertical tubes, movable choke-rings within said tubes, a I

funnel-plate above the upper end, of said tubeshaving holes registermgwith the tubular openings and sides sloping upwardly I from saldopenings, 9. discharge-cone inclosing the lower end .'of said tank andhaving a discharge-orifice at its lower end, an u right regulating-conevertically adjustab e within said dischar econe, and 2. lug adapt}.

ed to regulate the ow of grain t roughsaid orifice. 25. In agi'ain-drier, a heating-tank havmg a 'ty of .tubes whose-ends pass throuends anged outwardly exterior to said head and the flanges slightlseparated therefrom, and rings of meta alloying with said tubes andheadfilling the annular crevicesbetween said flanges and head.

26. In a grain-drier, a heater comprising a tank having a Iurality oftubes whose ends pass through ho es in the heads thereof said tubeshaving their outer ends expanded to form flan es surrounding theorifices and separated y annular crevices, anda' layer of sald metalcovering the interior'surface of said head and the joints ofthetubes.

27. A grain-drier comprising a cylindrical drying-element through whichgrain is adapted to pass, a conical discharge element having acylindrical margin telescoping over the end of said drier-element, and apair of ears on said drying element adapted to seize and maintain saiddischarge-element in such positi on that the conical-portion abutsclosely against the end of said drying-element.

28. A grain-drier com risingla cylindrical drying-element, a'conica discarge-element adapted to regulate the flow of grain there-- through andhaving a cylindrical margin telescopin overthe-end of said.drying-element, sai dischar e-'element havin' a roll or bead formed on te edge of said cyhndrical margin, and a of saiddrying hold said beadwhen said ischarge-element I. pair of ears on opposite, sides e ementada ted tograsp and telescopes over said drying-element as afore saidand the latter abuts a ainst the conic'a1 portion of said discharge-eement.

29. In a grain-dr1er,the combinationof a 1 port beneath said orifice andconcentric.-

discharge-element comprising an inverted cone having an orifice .at itslower end, a suptherewith, a vertical stem mounted and adjust'able insaid sup ort, a regulating-ale men't mounted on sa1d stem within saidcone, 7

and a guide-piece surrounding said stem below' saidregulatin -element'within said cone and supported om the walls ofthe latter.

30.- Ina grain-drier, the combination of a I discharge-elementcomprising aninverted cone having an orifice at its lower end, a sup-Iplur I go I one head thereof, said tubes having port beneath saidorifice and concentric therewith, a vertical stem mounted and adjustablein said support, a regulating-element mounted on said stem Within saidcone, a

guide-piece surrounding said stem below said regulating-element withinsaid cone and supported from the walls "of the latter, and a secondaryre ulating-elem'ent comprising a ring1 mounte within said coneconcentric wit said first-named regulating-element and over the latter.i

31. In a-grain-drier, a tube-joint comprising a tube-end having its, marin expanded to form a flange, a meta sheet through which said tube-endpasses and the surface of which is slightly separated from said flangeso as to form an annular crevice,

and a ring of metal filling said crevipe and alloyin with'said tube-endand sheet.

32. n a grain-drier, a tube-joint comprising a tube-end having itsmargin expanded to form a flange, a metal sheet through which saidtube-end passes and the surface of which is slightly separated from saidflange so as to form an annular crevice, a-ring of metal filling saidcrevice and alloying with said tubeend and sheet, and a layer of metalcovering the interior of the line of junction'between saidtub'e-end andsheet.

a discharge-cone having an o ening at its lower end, a support carried tereb below-.

said open end, a grain-deflector wit in said cone adjustably mounted onsaid support, and a flow-regulating lug in said open end and likewise'adjustab ly mounted on said support. 7

34. In a grain drier, in combination with a discharge-cone having an oening at its lower end, a support mounte on saiddischarge-cone' belowsaid open end, a vertical stem rising from said support into theinterior of said cone, a grain-deflector mounted on said support, meansfor vertically adjusting said grain-deflector from the exterior of saidcone, and a regulatin plug for said lowerend adjustably mounte on saidstem.

35. In a rain-drier, the combination of a heating-tan having passagewaysfor grain, a distributing-cone covering the lower end of said tank, anadjustable grain-deflector the exterior of the apparatus at a pointbelow said tank for regulatmglsaid grain-deflector.

' within said cone, and means operated from

